


how wide and bright the world (The Secrets And Wonders Remix)

by Burning_Nightingale



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: First Meetings, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 07:10:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15944327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burning_Nightingale/pseuds/Burning_Nightingale
Summary: Maeglin escapes Nan Elmoth, and Celebrimbor is there to receive him.





	how wide and bright the world (The Secrets And Wonders Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zdenka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zdenka/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Secrets](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8107855) by [Zdenka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zdenka/pseuds/Zdenka). 



> A remix of Zdenka's fic "Secrets", written for Remix Revival 2018.

He sees the boy across the river for the first time on a bright summer day, when all the world seems to be in bloom.

He doesn't know the boy's name yet. Doesn't know that this sallow-faced boy with deep suspicion in his eyes is his own cousin, long lost in the tangled shadows of Nan Elmoth. 

What he does know is that it's odd to see anyone this far out, especially a young boy wandering all alone. Even odder that when he calls out a greeting, the boy gives him a look that even at this distance is unmistakably strong mistrust- and disappears back into the wood.

Celebrimbor weighs the risks of going in after him for a long moment before turning aside. The wood is Sindar land, not theirs, and he would undoubtedly stir up conflict by trespassing uninvited. Besides, the boy must have family further within the wood. 

He sees the boy several times after that, but does not meet him properly until he is grown, a young man who glowers at him from across the course of the rushing river. "I see you often," the young man says, "Walking here."

"One might think you would greet me with a more amicable countenance, then," Celebrimbor says, annoyed by the young man's curt tone.

The young man simply snorts, and disappears into the forest once more.

Not the most auspicious of starts - but something draws them to one another, an insatiable tug of curiosity that pulls them both back to the river. 

Maeglin thinks it explained once they realize their close kinship. "I must have recognised you, despite having no knowledge of your name or origin," he says confidently, as they sit on Celebrimbor's bank of the river, a mostly demolished picnic spread out before them. 

"Perhaps," Celebrimbor says, though he does not really believe it. More likely they were both lonely, with few peers their own age, and recognised in each other the potential for a close friendship.

It is a friendship which grows and blossoms as the years progress; a friendship that blooms into something more.

It's as they lie together one early summer evening, the glorious map of the stars just beginning to appear in the heavens above, that Celebrimbor asks again, "Will you not leave the wood a little while, Maeglin, and tarry with me? It could be only a week or two."

He feels Maeglin shift in his arms, clearly discomforted by this question. "Would that I could, but I cannot."

"Not even when your father leaves for the mountains?"

Maeglin is silent; Celebrimbor can almost hear his mind chewing through the implications, the possibilities of that idea. "Perhaps," he allows.

"There is much more than this river and this field, beyond your forest," Celebrimbor says, "And I would show it to you, if I could."

"Wait, then," Maeglin says, leaning up to kiss him, "And perhaps I will come to you."

Maeglin is as good as his word, though his arrival is a little more dramatic than Celebrimbor was expecting. He thunders into the main courtyard at Himlad on a great black stallion, his mother's horse close behind. He swings from the saddle and races over to embrace Celebrimbor, pulling back to tell him breathlessly, "We have escaped! Fled the forest forever!"

Celebrimbor cannot pretend the thought of Eol, spurned and likely spitting with anger, does not concern him; but neither can he hide his joy that Maeglin has come. "You are most welcome here," he says, "Most welcome indeed."

Eol comes, as they all knew he would, but Curufin manages to set him on the wrong path, convincing him that his men saw Maeglin and Aredhel fleeing into the north. "Still," Curufin says, "I believe it would be best if you did not linger here long. He will surely realize the ruse sooner rather than later, and it would benefit you to be far away from here when he returns." Curufin's eye lands on Celebrimbor then, something knowing in his gaze. "Tylepinquar is long overdue a visit to his uncle in Himring. Why don't you and your son accompany him, Irisse?"

Which is how they find themselves on the eastern road, heading for Maedhros' fortress in the north. 

Celebrimbor can't help but notice how Maeglin's eyes drink in every new sight, wide with awe and wonder. That look stirs something in Celebrimbor's chest; that innocent thrill of discovery, of laying eyes on that which is wonderful and exciting and new. He wants to be the one introducing Maeglin to new sights, just so he can drink in that wonder.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" he says now, gesturing out at the wide lands around him.

Maeglin nods, not taking his eyes off the view. "I always knew there were landscapes other than the forest...but I never imagined that they could look like this."

"Wait but a moment, and you will see an even greater sight," Celebrimbor says, unable to help the secretive smile that creeps onto his face.

Maeglin turns to him with narrowed eyes, clearly preparing to badger him until he spills his secrets; but at that moment they crest the final rise, and Celebrimbor nods to the view ahead. When Maeglin follows his gaze, his mouth opens wide. 

There are, in Celebrimbor's humble opinion, few sights so imposing, so majestic, as the castle of Himring rising against the morning sky, its rocky feet still shrouded in mist. The stone walls tower over the landscape, functional rather than lovely; and yet there is still a harsh beauty there, a beauty that speaks of lordly, snow-capped mountain peaks, a beauty that promises safety and protection. 

The wonder on Maeglin's face is a gift, for through it Celebrimbor sees the castle with awe once again, the old familiarity fallen from his eyes. 

After a moment Maeglin speaks. "If this is what waits in the wide open world," he whispers, "I wish only that I had thought to leave the safety of my forest so much earlier."

Celebrimbor smiles, and reaches out to take his hand. "The world is indeed full of wonders," he says, "And if you will it, I will show them all to you."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
